I was looking through the various operas I'd downloaded, and came across this which I somehow didn't even remember. Imagine that! French subtitles, which, again, I could easily follow. Seriously, why isn't this on DVD? It's a professional recording of a high-quality production. Fun fact: it was translated to English some time after its composition, making it the first-ever English-language opera, though it's not clear if that version was ever performed.
So we're in Media, which is an ancient kingdom more or less where Iran is today. The king, Erimante, is freaked out because he's having dreams where this young Armenian warrior who's been wounded and captured is going to end up taking over his kingdom. But he's actually a woman, Erismena, in disguise; she's there in search of her lover who abandoned her. He's going by the name of Erineo, but he's actually Idraspe, an Iberian prince. There's also a slave, Aldimira, who has several suitors whom she throws over when she falls in love with Erismena in drag. Comic-relief skirt-role nurse who reveals critical information. Various tangly things happen; the king tries to have Erismena poisoned, but in the end--spoiler!--it turns out Erismena is actually secretly Erimante's daughter, in true, goofy baroque fashion. So that's why he was having visions of her inheriting his crown, you see. Anyway, everyone ends up happy.
I don't know about you, but this plot feels distinctly Handelian to me. All these politics and mistaken identities and the protagonist in drag...I dug it. I mean, I always dug Cavalli, but the music felt especially luscious here. Maybe I'm just getting more onto his wavelength. I feel that I need to start using the word "arioso" when talking about these early operas: that's something between recitative and aria: you know it when you hear it; it's these things where it seems like it's going to resolve itself into a full-fledged aria, but then it just kind of melts away. That sounds like it ought to be maddening, but it can actually be quite enchanting. Anyway, there's a lot of that here.
Very good production. Featuring handguns in place of swords, but more timeless than contemporary. Really impressive performance by Francesca Aspromonte in the title role--including, not jarringly but still surprisingly, brief toplessness at the end. Which is actually kind of specified in the libretto, though it would be easy enough to work around it one were so inclined. Right there on youtube! THINK OF THE CHILDREN! Okay, all right.
Anyway, point being, I'm a bigger fan of Cavalli than you are. Whether that fact is enough to keep me warm at night is...another question.
No comments:
Post a Comment